You got some splainin' to do, "Merica

So I heard today a discussion about the very serious issue of embryonic stem cell research. One of the commentators had done polling to try to get a clear picture of how well the general public understood the basic facts that frame the discussion. Part of her research was whether people understood the term 'embryo'. And she reported that she was heartened to discover that nearly four out of five of the respondents could clearly identify the difference between an embryo and a later term fetus. This would indicate a fair level of science understanding. As I listened, I tried to square this with the data that says that half the American electorate believes that the biblical account of Genesis happened just as written. Huh?

Another quote. Commentator on the process of democracy. And I have to track down his name- apologies. He said "Democracy is the system that's needed by people who don't agree with each other. If we all agreed with each other, we wouldn't need democracy." Our system is designed to provide an alternative way to live with differences and make things work without resorting to shooting each other. And the trappings of democracy aren't sufficient to make it work. Democracy requires that people be educated in being 'civil' in the sense of trying to discern what's best for all of us rather than what do I want. What a concept.



davidrites